Army denies complicity in Methodist Prelate’s abduction

The Nigerian Army has said it didn’t receive information on the abduction of the Prelate of the Methodist Church of Nigeria, His Eminence, Samuel Kanu Uche, after he was abducted by gunmen on Sunday.

The army stated that its troops were deployed at Forward Operating Base (FOB) Okigwe and in front of the Abia State University Uturu, stressing that no information was made available to the troops.

It further condemned the allegation of complicity leveled against the troops in the abduction of the Methodist Church Prelate.

The Director, Army Public Relations, Brig.-Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu, made this known via a statement issued and made available to The Star on Wednesday.

Uche was abducted alongside Rt. Rev. Dennis Mark, the Methodist Bishop of Owerri and the Prelate’s Chaplain on Sunday along Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway in Umunneochi Local Government Area of Abia State.

The clergyman, who regained freedom on Monday, said his abductors were paid the sum of N100 million as ransom to secure his release from captivity.

The Prelate, while speaking at a press conference in Lagos, on Tuesday, said neither the federal, state governments nor even the security operatives made efforts to secure his release.

However, the army, while reacting to the allegation, said: “The Nigerian Army (NA) has been notified of the insinuation making the rounds on social media, alleging complicity of troops of the Nigerian Army in the kidnap incident of the Methodist Prelate in Abia state recently.

“While the Nigerian Army expresses concern and sympathy for the victim of this heinous crime and shares in his pains, the insinuation that troops are complicit in the kidnap incident is not entirely premised on any findings of investigations and therefore cannot be swallowed hook line and sinker.  This allegation therefore raises some pertinent questions which are still unanswered.

READ ALSO: What our abductors told us — Methodist Prelate

“Given, the spate of insecurity in the region, the question would be, was the issue reported to the unit covering the area? Did the Methodist Church take the NA into confidence while negotiating the ransom with the kidnappers? No formal complaint has been received by the unit. More worrisome is the fact that it was alleged that the ransom was paid in less than 24 hours. Was the ransom paid to troops?  These are questions that beg for answers.

“Moreso, the NA unit, has not received any debrief from the Prelate or the Methodist Church. It is, therefore, important to state that troops are deployed at Forward Operating Base (FOB) Okigwe and in front of the Abia State University Uturu and no information was made available to them or to 14 Brigade or any other formation, except the information making the rounds in the social media,” Nwachukwu stated.

The army spokesperson added that the troops’ deployment in the Nigerian Army “is not done with considerations for ethnic affiliation, hence a deployment of troops of Fulani ethnic extraction who as alleged by the Prelate, carried out the dastardly act is not our practice or modus operandi in the NA.”

“Given our professional disposition and zero tolerance for any misconduct in the Nigerian Army, we will take this weighty allegation seriously and approach the Prelate and the Methodist church to unravel the basis for the allegation,” he stated.

The Star